The Red Sox’ Manny Ramirez is greeted at home plate by teammate Dustin Pedroia, and both were all smiles after Ramirez’s two-run homer tied the game against the Twins at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning last night at Fenway Park.

AP / Winslow Townson

BOSTON — The M&M boys proved crucial for the Boston Red Sox last night.

That’s Manny and Moss.

Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez did something he’s accomplished 507 times in his career, while rookie Brandon Moss did something he’s done only twice as they helped Boston to a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.

Moss provided his second game-winning RBI of the season with a single up the middle to snap a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning. Earlier in the frame, Ramirez did what he does best, crushing a two-run homer to tie the game at 5-5 and setting up Moss’ heroics.

“At Fenway Park, to get a hit like that,” said Moss, “there are not many better feelings. It was very gratifying. The one thing that you try to do when you come off the bench when you don’t play every day is try to do something to help the team. There’s so much adrenaline going, you have to be calm and not let the game speed up on you. You have to let ability take over.”

He did just that, and so did Ramirez.

Ramirez went a span of 61 at-bats over 23 games between homers, but he couldn’t have picked a better time to snap out of his funk.

Ramirez had the game-winning hit on Monday night, a single through the right side of the infield to give Boston a 1-0 victory over the Twins. He followed that up last night with a more spectacular hit.

“It’s nice to see him hit the ball out of the ballpark,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. Monday night “was what we needed, but sometimes you need a home run.”

It wasn’t just the home run that proved crucial for Ramirez and the Sox last night. It was his at-bat in the fourth inning that proved he’s getting locked in at the plate once again.

When Ramirez, who now has 17 homers and 56 RBI, hits the ball with authority to the opposite field, that’s a sure indication he’s comfortable.

“We’ve seen him go the other way, and when he does that, he carries us for a while,” said Francona. “And when he drives the ball to right field, that’s a good sign.”

Another good sign, too, was the fact that Moss had two RBI — he had a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning — which means he’s getting enough work despite the lack of playing time.

“He’s a good player,” said Francona. “He’s gotten into a situation where it’s been hard to find him playing time, which I’m not very comfortable with because he’s a young kid who is progressing. He’s got a great attitude. We don’t want him to go backwards because he’s a good player. He’s going to be a better player. Every time he gets to a level [Double A and Triple A], after he repeats it, you see him start to emerge. Hopefully, that will happen here, too.”

The Red Sox got contributions from others last night, too.

They took the early lead when J.D. Drew drilled an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning that scored Jacoby Ellsbury, who had led off with a single.

Red Sox starter Jon Lester cruised through the first three innings, retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced. In the top of the fourth, however, the Sox’ lefty surrendered three runs, including a two-run triple by the Twins’ Brendan Harris, to snap Lester’s consecutive-scoreless-innings string at 12 as Minnesota took a 3-1 lead.

The Twins added to that lead in the top of the seventh when Harris led off with a double and later scored on a Denard Span single for a 4-1 advantage.

Boston pushed a run across in the bottom of the seventh to cut its deficit to two. Kevin Youkilis hit a high fly ball off the left-center-field wall for a triple before Moss hit his sacrifice fly. Minnesota’s Delmon Young hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth to boost the Twins’ lead to 5-2.

In the home half of the eighth, however, the Sox strung together a bunch of timely hits.

Ellsbury led off with a double to left and Pedroia singled to put runners on the corners. Drew grounded out, but a run scored on the play. With one out and one on, Ramirez crushed his 17th homer of the season, depositing the offering into the Monster Seats to tie the game at 5-5.

Youkilis continued his hot streak by providing a double for his third hit of the game — a homer shy of the cycle — and advanced to third on a passed ball. Moss then ignited the 37,925 fans in attendance with his hot shot up the middle to score the eventual winning run.

“A lot of good things happened in that inning,” said Francona. “There were a lot of good at-bats.”

With a 6-5 lead, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon came in for the ninth and recorded his 27th save of the season. But the hard-throwing right-hander didn’t make it a 1-2-3 frame as the Twins threatened.

Minnesota’s Nick Punto fought off pitch after pitch and had a 12-pitch at-bat before launching a double into center field. A sacrifice bunt move him to third.

“It was a great at-bat,” said Francona. “Pap made good pitches and there’s a reason why (the Twins) win a lot of games, because they play until it’s over. From our end, it’s a good feeling because Pap’s on the mound. … He’s one of the best closers in the league.”

With the potential tying run 90 feet away, pinch-hitter Jason Kubel struck out swinging on a 97-mph fastball before Papelbon got Alexi Casilla to ground out to second, ending the game. The save was the 99th of Papelbon’s career.

jmcdonal@projo.com